Are you still cold?
by KiaraNoodle
Summary: Thorki! This takes place a couple of years before the first Thor movie. Hey Earthlings, me again. It was a collab between me and ladyadira, hope you enjoy this pile of crap!


Summer was a wonderful time of year in Asgard. The smell of fruit carried on the warm wind and drifted though the castle halls. Rivers lapped on the shores of the city and the forests alike and the children swam and played in the meadows. It was a time of plentiful, rich food and festival throughout the city. But this time was fading, turning to the time of harvest. The leaves turned from green to gold and red and fell from the arching branches of the canopy that made up the forest. This day was a rather cold one and most of the citizens of Asgard were bundled up in their homes, sitting beside the hearth among friends and family. One though, who did not wish to mingle with the guests, preferred the silence of the woods. And there he sat, his back to a maple tree, watching the golden leaves fall. Unbeknownst to him, another noticed his absence in the great halls of the castle. Thor scanned the banquet table for his brother.

"Have you seen Loki?" he asked the woman sitting next to him.

Sif glanced around the room. "I can't say I have," she said, "but who really knows where he is these days?" She laughed and took a big gulp of her cider. Thor laughed along with her halfheartedly, but he didn't find it very funny. He stood from his chair and made to leave the hall, but at the door he was stopped by his father, who was coming in.

"Ah, there you are! Having a good time, are we?" asked Odin.

His son smiled distractedly. "Yes...yes sure, have you seen Loki?" he asked.

"Is he not at the banquet?" Odin shook his head in annoyance. "I assumed he'd be with you."

"Not today," replied Thor. _Less and less lately_, he thought.

"Come back to the table, my son, he'll return soon enough"

"In a moment, I'll be back later" Thor insisted. He could hear his father protesting this behind him, but he was already walking away. He climbed down the steps of the palace and headed for the forest.

Many times that year Loki had gone there in search for a place to think. He found it to be a place that many people overlooked and found a sense of solitude among the trees. While he lay there now, he watched the leaves fall and had his head turned toward the sky. Every other moment he would allow the green glow of his illusions to take flight between the falling leaves, jumping from one to the next in the form of a bird or a rabbit or a wolf or countless other animals that came to mind as he made them dance around. As he did so, memories would surface from deep places he had long forgotten about. He used to bring Thor here when they were younger, only ten or so. They climbed trees and played ridiculous games of pretend where Thor would always play the hero, saving Loki from whatever "danger" he was in. That is, until Loki got tired of being saved and decided to be the bad guy, holding one or another of Thor's friends hostage. They even had a tire swing that he had fallen off _so many _times—it also doubled as Thor's majestic dragon. Loki changed the miniature bird he was puppeting into a dragon, and it circled around a leaf before landing on it, only to disappear seconds later. He sighed. He missed Thor, _his _Thor. The one who wasn't always off fighting some shit and actually had time for him. The who _cared _if he was in trouble and didn't just say, _In the end, you will always be you_. The one who , dare he say , had feelings for him—_no, don't be silly._ Loki laughed to himself for thinking that —how foolish could he be? Thor had bigger priorities now. He'd rather spend time with his other friends than his little brother. The crunch of leaves underfoot startled him out of his thoughts. The illusions disappeared and he sat up quickly, looking from side to side. Thor leaned on a nearby tree.

"Shouldn't you be at the feast?" asked Loki. "I'm sure your _friends_ must be wondering where you are." He lay back down on the leaves.

"I managed to get away," replied Thor, oblivious to Loki's sarcasm.

"Well, you'll be able to get away with anything once you're king," his brother retorted.

Thor ignored the comment and lay down next to Loki.

"I liked the illusions you were doing just then," he said.

"They were the simplest ones I know," Loki said, half laughing. "If you could see what I've been studying lately!"

Thor knit his eyebrows. "I'm sorry I haven't been around much," he said.

Loki looked at him doubtfully. "No you're not," he said blatantly. "I'm sure you are much happier fighting whatever offense to the nine realms there is than staying back here with _me._"

"That's not true," said Thor, "I just…" _I have to stay away from you because— because every time I talk to you I— well, I— I want to kiss you. _He would never say that out loud, of course, so he had no way of convincing Loki that he wasn't avoiding him for no reason.

"If you would rather be fighting monsters or drinking with your friends, just_ say _so," Loki said.

"_No,_ Loki, I would rather be here with_ you_," his brother insisted. He turned his head and looked Loki in the eyes. "Really."

Loki could tell he meant it too. _But why? _he wondered. He turned back to staring at the sky and noticed that the sun had begun to set, matching the colors of the leaves. He closed his eyes. A few moments later he opened one eye to look at Thor only to find he had moved closer to him. He felt a smile spread across his lips and closed his eyes again. _This is nice, _he thought, _I miss this_. Thor's head rolled to the side so that their heads were leaning against each other. _It would be so easy to turn and kiss him right now, _he thought. _No, you can't think like that, Loki, that's… _All too soon, Thor sat up.

"I'm getting cold, how have you managed to stay out here all day in nothing but a tunic and pants?" he asked.

"It doesn't seem that cold to me," Loki replied. He sat up next to Thor. "You can go back if you want to."

"No, I'll stay—always."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Always? How sentimental."

Thor smiled. "We're brothers, Loki. We're in this together. We'll always look out for each other, whether you like it or not."

Loki laughed. "I suppose I don't have much choice in the matter."

Thor grinned at him. "No, you don't."

And then Loki was laughing, and Thor was laughing, and the sun was sinking below the horizon, and it was just the two of them and the sunset and the way things used to be. Everything seemed so normal—but it wasn't, was it?

"Thor—if that's true, then why have you been avoiding me so much?"

Thor froze, seemingly caught off guard by the question. "Well, I… I just… please believe me when I say it's not because I don't want to spend time with you."

"Then why? Why avoid me of all people? Have I done something? Are you—" He was cut off by Thor kissing him.

Thor.

Kissing him.

_Holy fuck_

He had thought, a couple times, that maybe Thor felt the same way he did, but he had never truly believed it. Thor pulled away.

"I—I'm sorry—"

"Don't be," replied Loki, pulling him back in.

When they pulled apart, Thor's face was as red as Loki's own.

"Loki—"

Loki was grinning. Thor looked so shocked, so flustered.

"Loki, you asked why I had been avoiding you? Every time I saw you, I wanted to—I wanted to do that. I figured if I stayed away from you it would go away, but..."

"...that didn't really work out, did it?" Loki finished for him.

"Not exactly," he replied, smiling sheepishly.

Loki laughed. _He's acting more like his old self._

Thor watched him, embarrassed. "So… do you… did you…"

"Yes, you fool, I like you."

"...oh."

Loki grinned. "Are you still cold?" he asked cheekily, scooting over to Thor and resting his head on Thor's shoulder. They stayed like that for a while, watching as the last streaks of orange and purple faded out of the sky. It was nearly dark when Loki spoke.

"Perhaps we should go inside. After all, we wouldn't want you to freeze, and our parents might get worried about us."

It was a moment before Thor spoke. "Who cares about them? And anyways…" he paused.

"I'm not cold anymore."


End file.
